The present invention relates to a yarn texturing nozzle, and which comprises a yarn feeding inlet portion and a perforated stuffer box portion. The inlet portion includes a yarn passageway, and the yarn is heated and advanced through the passageway by a treatment fluid which is supplied through internal ducts which are inclined with respect to the yarn passageway. The nozzle includes a slot for the purpose of threading a yarn, and the slot extends along an axial plane which includes the yarn passageway, with provision made for opening and closing the slot.
German AS No. 1,435,653 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,373,470 and 3,482,294 discloses an apparatus for the continuous stuffer box crimping of a thermoplastic yarn, and wherein a heated treatment fluid advances the yarn by means of an injector into a stuffing chamber having a side wall which is permeable to the fluid. The yarn forms a plug in the stuffing chamber, and at the outlet end the yarn is drawn off and wound.
Other apparatus of the described type are illustrated in German OS No. 26 32 083 and German GM No. 77 23 587. The apparatus described in these prior patents have been proven in operation with respect to the quality of the crimping. However, all of the known prior apparatus of this type have an important disadvantage, in that the thread-up of the yarn is extremely tedious and time consuming. For example, where it becomes necessary to rethread the yarn during a continuous operation, such as after a yarn break or the like, the thread-up can be done only after the hot pressurized gas has been turned off, and it may also be necessary to wait until the apparatus has cooled before thread-up can be accomplished.
Published European patent applications Nos. 108,205; 123,072; 26,360; and 110,359 illustrate prior attempts to facilitate the opening of the texturing nozzle, by constructing the nozzle in two halves which are sealably pressed against each other during operation. This arrangement is only possible however, when the inlet portion and the adjacent stuffer box are identically designed with respect to their strength. For this reason, special steps must be taken for improving the strength of the stuffer box.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a yarn texturing nozzle of the described type, and wherein the thread-up of the yarn into the nozzle is readily facilitated and without requiring any change in the operating condition of the nozzle.
It is also an object of the present invention to avoid the disadvantages of the known apparatus and methods as described above, and to provide a nozzle which can be opened so as to insure a simple and rapid threading of the advancing yarn into the nozzle without adversely affecting its efficiency. The nozzle should also be designed to enable an efficient construction of the stuffer box which assures the outflow of the treatment fluid, and which does not require a particularly strong design of the stuffer box.